FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT PICKUP TRUCK - PAGE 4

BOYNTON BEACH -- A man in his 30s was shot on Tuesday night while driving a pickup truck in a known drug-dealing area, police said. Willie Hardiman of Boynton Beach was shot at least once in the head and was taken to Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach, where his condition was undetermined late on Tuesday. Hardiman was driving a friend`s pickup about 9:30 p.m. near Northwest 10th Avenue and Northwest Fourth Avenue. Police said a car with four people inside drove by, and numerous shots were fired at the truck.

A man allegedly made 14 Molotov cocktails and set his pickup truck on fire in a Child Support Enforcement office parking lot to get the attention of officials on Wednesday, police say. Manfred Gonzalez, 31, had been trying to call child-support officials about 8 a.m. but did not receive a response, West Palm Beach police spokeswoman Dena Peterson said. The frustrated Orlando resident parked at 3111 S. Dixie Highway, Peterson said. About 8:25 a.m. Gonzalez lit up the truck, which contained 14 Budweiser bottles filled with gasoline and taped at the mouths with bandage gauze, Peterson said.

Q. I live in a condo and own a pickup truck. Several months ago, a new board was elected, and I recently received a letter telling me that the condo documents do not allow trucks to be parked on association property. I have owned this pickup truck for two years, and no one has ever complained until now. I do not think it is fair for the new board to tell me that I cannot have my pickup. Does the board have the authority to do this? A. Based on the facts stated in your letter, the board may not have the authority to require you to get rid of your pickup truck.

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is investigating a fatal traffic accident west of Delray Beach . It happened about 7:30 p.m. Saturday at North Oriole Boulevard and South Jog Road, according to the Sheriff's Office. Investigators said a black pickup struck the passenger side of a white, four-door Nissan. Occupants of both vehicles were taken to Delray Medical Center, where a passenger in the Nissan was pronounced dead, according to hospital officials. The conditions of the other two victims are unknown.

An armed robbery victim is recovering from a gunshot wound to the leg despite handing over his cash to the gunman. Two men were robbed around 11 a.m. on Wednesday outside the Q. Mitchell Nursery on the 2800 block of Sunrise Boulevard near Fort Lauderdale. The suspect approached them and demanded their cash and belongings. One of the men ran, and the other complied. For unknown reasons, the robber shot him in the leg, detectives said. The gunman was described as having a long goatee, a green shirt and a black baseball cap. Broward Sheriff's detectives are circulating a composite sketch of the suspect with the hope someone will recognize and report him. Witnesses said he fled in a black Chevrolet pickup with tinted windows, chrome side trim molding that runs the length of the truck and a tool box in the bed. The word Chevrolet is printed in large letters across the back end of the vehicle.

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with fatally shooting his father, whose body was found tied by the neck to the bumper of a pickup truck with an orange electrical cord, sheriff's deputies said. Juvenile authorities held Ryan Adam Mingledorff on an open count of murder Monday pending a decision on whether he should be prosecuted as an adult, said Walton County sheriff's Capt. Danny Glidewell. Deputies found the body of James Lewis Mingledorff, 57, on Sunday lying face down in the front yard of their home a couple of miles southeast of this Florida Panhandle city, Glidewell said.

A man returning home from work Tuesday evening struck and killed his son's 7-year-old friend with his pickup truck as he pulled into his driveway, police said. Mark Presno, 40, noticed his son on his bike as he pulled in to his home in the 9300 block of Northwest 23rd Street about 5:20 p.m., said Sgt. Bryan Davis, traffic homicide supervisor for the Pembroke Pines Police Department.

Authorities have dropped felony charges against five young men accused of instigating a gang fight in Pompano Beach that put their teen friend in a coma. At a hearing Monday, Broward Circuit Court Judge Matthew Destry ruled investigators had not compiled enough evidence from the April 4 melee, according to court documents. The teen's brother, Paul Asam, 21; Anthony Vincenzi, 27; Peter Longchamp, 21; Jame Senko, 20; and Patrick Stevens, 25 — all of Pompano Beach — had each been charged with four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of throwing a missile into a dwelling.